China's primary aluminium inventories attain 682,000 tonnes with a slight gain over the weekend

Social inventories of aluminium ingot across eight major Chinese consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, grew by 3,000 tonnes over the weekend to stand at 682,000 tonnes as of Monday, August 29, found the Shanghai Metals Market. But week-on-week, the inventories stood 1,000 tonnes lower than 683,000 tonnes on August 22.

On Thursday, August 25, China’s primary aluminium inventories also lost 1,000 tonnes over a week to clock at 679,000 tonnes.

The increase in inventories on Monday was contributed by low buying interest due to domestic price rally last week. However, going ahead, accumulation of inventories is likely to slow down as the production cut in Sichuan has affected the supply of aluminium ingots.

The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details:

In Wuxi, primary aluminium inventories gained 10,000 tonnes over the weekend due to fresh arrivals. According to SMM, the inventories totalled 210,000 tonnes as of August 29 versus 20,000 tonnes on Thursday, August 25. In Hangzhou, Gongyi, and Chongqing, primary aluminium inventories grew by 1,000 tonnes to stand at 63,000 tonnes, 101,000 tonnes, and 7,000 tonnes, respectively.

In Nanhai and Shanghai, on the other hand, primary aluminium inventories decreased 9,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes to come in at 170,000 tonnes and 36,000 tonnes on August 29. Meanwhile, Tianjin and Linyi witnessed restraint at 78,000 tonnes and 17,000 tonnes.